AA Badenhorst outside Malmesbury in the Swartland was one of the pioneers of South African bubbly made ‘the original way’ invented by the French in the 16th Century. Vondeling of Paarl was another, their Rurale reported to be the first local wine officially recognised as having come about according to
FOR THE Ferreiras to call the second super-premium wine from their Stellenbosch estate ‘Tokara Simonsberg Cabernet Sauvignon’ is intriguing. The vines that the grapes come from for this single-varietal wine are planted on the slopes of the Simonsberg, but the same applies to other Cabernets from Tokara that carry the
NOT A RECORD price for the 1986 Vin de Constance, but pretty darn close! The R56K+ (US$3098) fetched for a bottle during the August ’24 Cape Heritage Auction conducted by Strauss & Co was marginally below the highest price ever fetched for a 500ml bottle of the sweet Muscat from
AT THE TIME of writing, the bone-dry Fino-style sherry from the farm Klein Amoskuil in the Malmesbury ward of the Swartland district was the only wine of it’s kind on the market. There have been other examples of South African sherries involving the solera process made famous by the Spanish
VIURA, also known as Macabeo, is a white wine grape that originated in Spain, where it is an important variety in the regions of Rioja and Catalonia – also widely planted in the southern regions of France. Think big grape clusters, big berries, thick skin – drought resistant, well suited
HOW TIMES have changed since the days when wine lovers regarded Alvi’s Drift as a producer of sweet Muscat – a good one, but little else from the Alfalfa estate and dairy farm. Decades later, they still offer a lovely dessert wine, however the Worcester outfit has become known mainly
THE CEDERBERG takes precedence for David Nieuwoudt, proprietor of the only cellar in this corner of the South African winelands, but he’s had an affair with the winelands of Chile that goes back decades. It was in South America that he came across Sauvignon Gris for the first time 20
SHENK or SKENK… However you choose to pronounce it, the Schenkfontein cellar in Eendekuil – 30km outside Piketberg off the N7, about a two-hour drive from Cape Town – is not familiar to many wine lovers outside the Swartland. The first certified bottlings from the farm of Hennie Hanekom and
A complex red blend of seven varieties with Cabernet Sauvignon in the driving seat, the 2016 vintage of Rietvallei Estate is the top wine in the Heritage Collection of special, very limited-quantity wines currently available from the farm in Robertson SA. Also in the mix are Shiraz, Petit Verdot, Tinta
TOP WINE from the Rietvallei estate in Robertson, the JMB Cabernet Franc is on a roll, so to speak. A few years ago, the 2016 was a National Winner at the SA Terroir Wine Awards and chosen as one of the Top 6 at the Cab Franc Challenge. Amazing that
WHAT A DIFFERENCE a year makes! Or doesn’t… Apparently some of those bidding during the timed online auction of sweet wines that concluded on 10 June ’24 regarded the 38-year-old 1986 vintage of Vin de Constance to be much better (or much more rare?) than the 37-year-old 1987: a 500ml
With Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Youth Day all happening in May and June, family relationships are top of mind. As a result, it was difficult to miss the kinship between two recent vintage releases at La Motte: 2024 Sauvignon Blanc and 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon. 2024 La Motte Sauvignon
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